The Sixteen: Howden's Heroics Seal Game 1 of Western Conference Final

When the Vegas Golden Knights ousted the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games, they awaited the result of the series between the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken. Dallas defeated Seattle in Game 7 of their second-round series to advance and face the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.

Vegas and Dallas came together in the third round for the second time in four seasons. The Stars eliminated the Golden Knights in five games in the 2020 Western Conference Final before losing to Tampa Bay in the final.

Fans flocked to T-Mobile Arena for the series opener. As the temperature kept rising with summer looming, fans followed suit by ramping up their energy for each game.

The feeling-out process between the Golden Knights and Stars lasted until the final two minutes of the first period as Jason Robertson netted the first goal of the series. Midway through the second period, William Karlsson continued his hot postseason as he buried his sixth goal of the playoffs to tie the game.

Karlsson scored again 1:19 into the third period to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead.

After Roope Hintz tied the game, Teddy Blueger scored his first goal of the postseason to put Vegas ahead, 3-2, with 10:40 to go in the third.

With less than two minutes to play, Jamie Benn tied the game for the Stars to send Game 1 to overtime. Overtime wasn't two minutes old before Brett Howden snuck the game-winning goal through the pads of Jake Oettinger to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead in the series.

"I think we felt good going in even though [the late goal] was a tough blow," Karlsson said. "From what I remember, it was pretty positive. We asked ourselves 'who wants to be here?' and [Howden] stepped up."

Howden's goal was his third of the postseason and came with assists from his linemates, Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson.

"I just tried throwing it in there and got lucky it went in," Howden said. "I think Oettinger put it in himself. I just tried to throw it in there and see what would happen."

The win was Vegas' third in a row after winning Games 5 and 6 against Edmonton to advance to the Western Conference Final.

Scoring Summary:
1st 18:44 | Jason Robertson (3) from Roope Hintz

2nd 9:17 | William Karlsson (6) from Zach Whitecloud, Nicolas Roy

3rd 1:19 | William Karlsson (7) from Alec Martinez, Alex Pietrangelo
3rd 4:01 | Roope Hintz (10) from Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson
3rd 9:20 | Teddy Blueger (1) from Keegan Kolesar, Zach Whitecloud
3rd 18:01 | Jamie Benn (3) from Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz

OT 1:35 | Brett Howden (3) from Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson

Vegas Golden Knights

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VGK Today May 20, 2023 | Brett Howden wins Game 1 in overtime